First Rain
by Jennifer Collins
Summary: Jessie has an unpleasant experience during her first rainy day outside. Thankfully, someone will rise to the occasion to turn it all around.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the Toy Story movie or characters…

**First Rain**

By Jennifer Collins

Jessie awoke on a typical Thursday morning stretching and yawning as she did nearly every day. When she looked over to her right, expecting to see Molly's sleeping form, she found with a start that the toddler bed was empty, except for her and a small brown teddy bear. Jessie bolted upright, almost in a panic. She looked to the teddy bear.

"She's gone downstairs to play," the little bear answered Jessie's unspoken question. Jessie wordlessly looked up to the top of Molly's dresser. Bo Peep stood at her usual perch by the lamp. She and her sheep were all still asleep. The digital clock next to her read 9:36.

"Whoa!" Jessie shouted. In a few quick motions, she took her cowgirl hat off of her head, slid through the bars of Molly's toddler bed, pulled her hat through, jumped to the floor and straightened the hat back on her head. She picked up a soft round ball from the floor and threw it up to the top of the dresser. "Wakey, wakey!" She yelled to Bo Peep. "Time to get up, Sleepy Head!"

Bo dreamily wiped the sleep from her eyes. "What are you doing up so early, dear?" She asked when she saw that the room was still pretty dark.

"It ain't that early, darlin'! It's almost twenty to ten! Why's it so dark?"

Bo looked out the window, from which no sun shone through. She saw dark heavy clouds through the water-streaked glass. "It's raining outside," she informed Jessie.

Jessie nodded slowly. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Andy's late for school!" She quickly ran to the bedroom door and peered out to make sure the coast was clear. In a moment, Bo was right behind her. The two scurried across the hall and slipped through the tiny sliver of space between the door to Andy's room and the door frame. Once inside, they found that all the other toys were still fast asleep.

Jessie climbed onto the already made and looked around. "I guess he made it on time then." She crawled over to where Woody lay sleeping and gently shook his shoulders.

Woody opened his eyes and was startled to see her. "Jess, it's still dark outside," he moaned. "What do you want?"

"It's late mornin' already and it's gettin' later every second," she informed him, as if he should already have known.

Woody sat straight up. "Andy!"

"Already gone to school," Bo Peep said quietly.

Woody's heart sank a little. He liked to silently see Andy off from the window as he left for school in the morning. He turned to look at the alarm clock on Andy's nightstand, but Buzz was sleeping like a plastic log in front of it.

"It's nearly ten o'clock," Bo said in her gentle voice.

Woody looked to the window and nodded once he saw what the weather looked like. "Can you two help me wake the others?" Woody asked, but Bo and Jessie were already doing just that.

Woody pulled himself up and placed his hands on Andy's nightstand. His eyes just made it over the edge. "Buzz!" He hissed loudly. "Buzz, wake up!"

"To infinity…." Buzz muttered sleepily. He rolled over and caught himself before he fell off the edge. 'Woody? What are you doing? Andy will hear you."

"Andy's already at school, Buzz," Woody said, a little impatiently. "It's a rainy day today and it's already late."

By now the others- Hamm, Rex, Potato Head, and everybody- had already woken and were causing quite a stir. Woody heard footsteps and muffled crying in the hall. He looked at Buzz, alarmed.

"It's Thursday," Buzz reminded him.

Woody nodded. "Right. Food shopping day." He turned to the others. "Everybody freeze!' He said, just loud enough so that the rest of the toys would hear him. They all could hear Mom and Molly just outside the door.

"I don't know what you did with your doll," Mom was saying to her toddler. "Why don't you just take your bear instead?" Molly whined something to her mom that none of the toys could understand. "Well hurry up and pick one toy. We have to get to the grocery store and back before it starts pouring even harder."

The door to Andy's bedroom swung open and in stepped Molly. She surveyed the room briefly before finding what she was looking for. She grabbed Jessie from the floor and held her tightly under her arm. Mom took Molly by the hand and walked her down the stairs and out the door.

Once he heard the car start, Woody stood up on the bed and asked the toys what they wanted to play before climbing down the bedspread.

"Oh, I don't know,' Buzz mumbled as he jumped from the nightstand to the bed and proceeded to take the same route Woody had just taken.

"Aw, what's the matter, Buzz? Rainy day got you down?" Woody asked, half jokingly.

"Eh, Space Boy's just sour because a certain redheaded cowgirl isn't here to turn him into a blubbering fool," Hamm pointed out.

Buzz shook his head and joined the others in the game of Life they had just started. Hamm was right, but if he let them make a big deal out of it they would never stop. Besides, even though his heart still hammered at the speed of light every time he saw her, he had gotten a lot better about holding at least a semi intelligent conversation with her over the past few weeks since she'd arrived in Andy's room. In fact, he'd come to look forward to their one on one chats and even missed her during the few moments when she wasn't around. Right now, though, he wasn't sure how he would even get through this gloomy day without her bubbly spirit to liven things up. He'd never admit that out loud to Woody and the others, though.

He looked up to find them all staring at him knowingly. "Oh, cheer up," Woody said. "She'll be back before you know it." Buzz didn't miss the look he exchanged with Bo Peep and was glad that there were at least some who understood what he was feeling right now, even if they were all jesting at his expense as they played the game. He did manage to get into it, however, and right as they were finishing up, they all heard Molly and Andy's mom's car pull into the driveway.

Buzz ran to the window in time to see Jessie fall to the ground. "Oh, no! Isn't anyone going to pick her up? Pick her up!" He yelled to the thick glass. Woody and Rex climbed over to the window to see what he was talking about.


	2. Chapter 2

Mom struggled to get Molly out of her car seat. Thunder rumbled in the distance and Molly was getting very fidgety. "Come on, Molly. It's okay," she cooed as she pulled her up and shut the car door with her hip. "It's just a little thunder."

Jessie had to make a conscious effort to stay absolutely still while in Molly's grasp. She had never been outdoors in the rain before and did not like the big wet drops that fell into her eyes and soaked her cloth doll body. Plus, she was a little scared of the thunder too.

Mom swung Molly over her shoulder and Molly repositioned Jessie in her arms. Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder slammed to the earth, and the sky flashed brightly for just a second. Molly opened her mouth wide and cried loudly. As she sobbed, she lost her grip on Jessie and the poor doll fell to the damp ground.

Jessie's unmoving eyes locked with Molly's for an instant and she silently willed Molly to come back for her. But the thrashing toddler grew farther away with each step her mother took.

Molly wailed and swung her arms trying to get her mother's attention, but Mom hadn't noticed Molly drop the doll, and she tried in vain to soothe her squirming daughter while getting her in the house at the same time.

The loneliness Jessie felt as she saw the door slam shut could only be compared to one other incident that had taken place in her lifetime.

Woody, Buzz, and Rex watched in horror from the window upstairs in Andy's room. "What are we going to do now?" Rex shouted in a panic. "She didn't see Molly lose her grip!"

Slinky and Hamm stood with their ears pressed against the door, listening carefully to see if Molly would be able to get her mom to go back for Jessie. But Molly was crying inconsolably and Mom couldn't make out what she was saying through her sobs. She just put her daughter in her toddler bed and shut the door, oblivious to the panic that was taking place in the room across the hall.

"We can't leave her out there," Buzz said urgently. "I'm going to go get her."

"By yourself?" Rex panicked.

Buzz nodded. "There's no sense in everybody getting wet. Besides, we don't have that much time until Andy gets home from school. This rescue mission must be completed as quickly as possible."

"You're right," Woody agreed. "But how are you going to get all the way out there without Andy's mom seeing you?"

Buzz motioned for Slinky Dog to come over. He pushed against the window with all his might. "Help me get this window open," he instructed. Woody and the others obliged. "Slink will lower me down into the bushes. I'll run across the lawn and get Jessie. Then when I come back, Woody will come down and pull us up."

Woody thought for a moment. "It's a good plan," he said. "Just make it as fast as you can." He helped Buzz and Slinky get into position as all the other toys crawled up to the window sill. Buzz held onto Slinky's front paws and Woody and Potato Head grabbed his back paws. Everyone else held onto Woody and Potato to create a force of stability. Slinky leaped down and Buzz waited until he reached as far as he could go. There was still about two feet between Buzz and the lawn. He took a gulp before letting go and fell down into a bush.

After straightening himself out, he rushed to where Jessie was laying face down on the wet ground. His heart almost broke at the sight of her defeated form, but he pushed on. "Jess," he said quietly, placing a gentle hand on her back.

Jessie looked up, her face wet from the rain and her big green eyes tearful. "They left me," she whispered.

Buzz pulled her into a standing position. "They didn't mean to," he said soothingly. "It was just an accident." He took Jessie's hand and led her down the path to the side of the house, where they would be out of sight just in case.

"I'm all wet," Jessie groaned.

"I know," Buzz said. "We'll get you dried off as soon as we get back inside."

"Stupid good for nothing rain!"

"Aw, Jess. The rain's not all bad."

"Oh yeah? How do you know? You can't possibly have been outside THAT many more times than me."

"True, but I probably have watched more television," he admitted.

Jessie put her hands on her hips. "All right then, You tell me. How can you possibly have fun in all this?"

"Well…" Suddenly Buzz got an idea. "You could do this." He began a slippery tap dance in the grass.

Slowly, a huge grin spread across Jessie's face from ear to ear. He looked so silly that she couldn't keep a few giggles from escaping her.

"You see?" Buzz laughed. "You can't dance in the rain without the rain." He held out both his hands for her to join him.

Jessie eagerly took his hands and kicked up her heels. She found that she actually liked the squishing sound her boots made when they hit the wet grass.

"What else?" Jessie asked when they stopped dancing.

Buzz moved closer to her. He noticed that her hair had become a little rumpled in the rain. He reached out and brushed a few strands of yarn hair behind her ear. Jessie's eyes widened a little at the intimacy of the gesture, but she didn't pull away.

Buzz moved his hand to the back of her head. His heart hammered in his chest and he couldn't tell if it was she who moved closer or if it was him. He remembered, though, that the other toys would be watching from the window and lost his nerve, unsure of just how much they could see from their angle. Instead he just pulled her close into a hug.

Over her shoulder, he saw something he knew she would want to see and he gently turned her head. "Look, Jessie! A rainbow!"

Jessie gasped and grinned wider as she took in the brilliant color shining over the bush. "Oh, Buzz! I've never seen a real one before! It's even more beautiful than I ever imagined it would be!"

Buzz flashed her his charming, wide, toothy smile. Jessie playfully punched him in the arm. "You were right, Space Boy. I guess the rain's really not all that bad."

Buzz took her hand. "Come on," he said. "We should get back inside before Andy's mom comes out to pick him up for school." He led her beneath the window and signaled to the others that they were ready.

Woody bounced down holding onto Slinky Dog. Buzz gently lifted Jessie up and placed her in Woody's waiting arms. He watched as the other toys pulled them up and waited patiently until she was safely over.

Woody came back down a few seconds later and Buzz had to jump up to catch his hand.

Once everybody was back inside, Woody ushered Buzz and Jessie into a corner by the foot of the bed. Hamm, Rex, and Mr. Potato Head all carried a giant towel over to them. "Okay, you two. Let's get you dried off."

Jessie eagerly wrapped the towel around her shoulders and motioned for Buzz to come closer. It took him a lot less time for him to dry off since he was made of plastic. Jessie on the other hand shivered slightly.

Buzz put an arm around her. "I'm sorry you had such a terrible time today. But you have to know that both Molly and Andy would never intentionally abandon you."

Jessie nodded.

"Besides," he continued. "I will always be here to come rescue you."

Jessie smiled. "Thanks, Buzz. You really are the sweetest space toy ever." She curled up into a ball underneath the towel and snuggled closer to him, resting her head against his wide chestplate. Buzz was a little surprised, but he wrapped both arms around her protectively. He looked up to see Woody giving him a thumbs up and flashed him a genuine smile.

They all listened to the pitter patter of the droplets falling against the window from the roof as they waited patiently for Andy to come home from school.


End file.
